Industry and technology development in China from 2003 to 2008: A perspective from patent classification analysis

Patents are the manifest output of industry's R&D effort. This paper explores the development of six industries in China, including Chemical (excluding Drugs), Computers and Communications, Drugs and Medical, Electrical and Electronics (E&E), Mechanical, and Others. The results showed that the number of U. S. granted utility patents in China as well as their shares in the world had increased over the period 2003 to 2008. China's industry distribution was similar to the global industry distribution, except for that E&E industry weighted over one third of the industries and Others industry owned the largest number of patents in traditional industries. USPC 361 is the R&D focus in E&E industry, and 88% of USPC patents in this category belonged to Foxconn Technology. Co., Ltd. All the industries in China had kept rising during this period, which was different from the global situation. The largest growth appeared in E&E industry, where the growth rate had become faster after 2006, due to a sudden increase of patents in USPC 361. However, 90% of the newly issued patents in USPC 361 after 2006 had been owned by Foxconn Technology. Co., Ltd. So, the overall R&D level of China's E&E sector might not be balanced and still needs to be improved. This paper provided an objective statistic reference for future policy directions and academic researches.